Lighting installations may include lighting fixtures (e.g., lighting fixtures with 0-10V dimmers) and dimmer circuits to control the intensity (e.g., brightness) of the light emitted from the lighting fixtures. Controlling the intensity of light may be desirable in numerous circumstances. For example, when a video is presented using a projector, to provide a clear view of the projected presentation material, a user may desire to reduce an intensity of the light (from the lighting fixtures) in the space (e.g., room) where the presentation is held. Further, in addition to the lighting fixtures, the lighting installations may include emergency lighting fixtures (e.g., 0-10V emergency lighting fixtures) to provide a secondary lighting source during a power outage.
Conventional technology may not provide an integrated control to operate both the lighting fixtures and the emergency lighting fixtures from one user panel. Conventional technology may require one device to control the lighting fixtures and another device (e.g., UL924 devices) to control the emergency fixture. The installation of each of these devices may be complex in that the installation may include complex wiring (e.g., installation of the UL924 may require additional wiring of connections to utility lines, switch input wires, emergency power lines, etc.). Further, conventional technology may not be configured to operate the lighting fixtures, the dimming circuits, and the emergency lighting fixtures synchronously. When the operations of the lighting and the emergency lighting fixtures are not synchronized, they may provide inconsistent lighting in a given space. For example, when a lighting fixture is dimmed to 50% intensity, the emergency lighting fixture may continue to operate at a different intensity.
Conventional technology may require installation of other additional devices (e.g., external devices such as automatic relay controls) that may include additional complex wiring to operate the emergency lighting fixtures synchronously with the lighting fixtures and dimming circuits. Further, conventional technology may require other additional complex wiring to ensure that the emergency lighting fixture changes to emergency mode brightness responsive to a power outage. For example, the lighting fixtures and the emergency lighting fixtures may operate at a 50% intensity prior to a power outage and once the power outage occurs, the emergency lighting fixtures may continue to emit light at 50% intensity, when a 100% intensity is desired.
The above-described complex installation of more than one device may be both time consuming and cost intensive in terms of labor cost, material cost, and/or installation cost. Thus, there is a need for an automatic emergency load control technology to overcome the shortcomings of a conventional technology.